5.  The applicant was born in 1967 and is currently detained in Łódź Remand Centre.
6.  On 29 November 2006 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of committing a number of offences in an armed organised criminal group.
7.  On 6 December 2006 the Łódź District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) remanded the applicant in custody until 28 February 2007. The court relied on a strong suspicion that the applicant had committed the offences he had been accused of. The risk of the applicant fleeing was also taken into account as a ‘wanted’ notice (list gończy) against him had been issued in October 2006. At that time he had not been residing at his permanent address and his whereabouts had not been established. The court further anticipated a heavy prison sentence to be imposed on the applicant if convicted.
8.  The applicant’s pre-trial detention was extended by the Łódź Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) on 27 February 2007, 26 June 2007 and on 19 September 2007. Subsequently, it was extended by the Łódź Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) on 21 November 2007, 19 December 2007, 28 March 2008, 18 June 2008, 22 October 2008 and on 23 December 2008.
In their decisions to extend the applicant’s pre-trial detention the courts relied on a reasonable suspicion, supported by evidence given by witnesses and other members of the criminal group, that the applicant had committed the offences in question. The courts further emphasised the risk of the applicant fleeing or obstructing the proceedings and the likelihood of a heavy prison sentence being imposed on him if convicted. The domestic courts attached importance to the complex character of the case, to the complex structure of the criminal group and the number of suspects involved and the necessity of collecting additional evidence for the inclusion in the already voluminous case file.
9.  On 18 March 2009 the State Prosecutor (Prokurator Krajowy) lodged a bill of indictment against the applicant with the Łódź Regional Court. The applicant was charged with several counts of extortion and drug-trafficking committed in an organised and armed criminal group. The bill of indictment comprised 94 charges brought against 28 defendants. The prosecution authorities requested that 318 witnesses be heard before the court.
10.  On 30 March 2009 the Łódź Court of Appeal extended the applicant’s detention on remand until 31 December 2009. Subsequently, the same court ordered prolongation of his detention on 21 December 2009 (detention extended until 30 September 2010), on 22 September 2010 (detention extended until 31 March 2011) and on 23 March 2011 (detention extended until 30 September 2011). The applicant lodged a number of motions to be released as well as appeals against the decisions extending his pre-trial detention, all in vain.
In their decisions the courts repeated the grounds previously given for the applicant’s detention.
11.  Meanwhile, the court scheduled fifteen hearings for November and December 2009. Due to sick-leaves of the presiding judge and of some of the accused those hearings did not take place.
12.  The trial was eventually opened on 18 January 2010. Subsequent scheduled hearings were adjourned due to absences of some of the co‑accused and due to problems with sound system in the court room.
13.  In May 2010 the Regional Court gave a severance order and decided to determine charges against two co-accused separately.
14.  The bill of indictment was only finally read out to the defendants at the hearing held on 27 May 2010.
15.  At the hearing of 28 May 2010 the Regional Court started taking evidence from the accused. It subsequently held fourteen hearings until the end of 2010, during which some of the accused gave evidence. Five of the scheduled hearings were adjourned due to sick-leaves of the accused. One hearing was adjourned because of the motion for disqualification of the judge lodged by one of the co-accused.
16.  In 2011 the Regional Court continued taking evidence from the defendants. Of the twenty nine hearings scheduled for this year, eleven took place. The trial court adjourned fifteen hearings due to justified absences of the parties, three hearings were cancelled due to sick-leaves of the presiding judge and the lay judges.
17.  Meanwhile, on 17 August 2011 the Łódź Regional Court ordered that the applicant’s detention on remand be lifted on condition that he paid the bail in the sum of 20,000 Polish zlotys (PLN) within the period of two weeks from the date of the decision.
On the same date the applicant was released on bail and police supervision. He was also prohibited from leaving the country.
18.  The Regional Court scheduled twenty hearings for 2012, of which six hearings were eventually held. At the hearing of 16 April 2012 the trial court started taking evidence from witnesses.
Of the fourteen hearings cancelled this year, two were adjourned because of a sick-leave of the presiding judge, three because of absences of witnesses, and the remaining nine hearings – because of absences of the parties.
19.  Until 30 July 2013 the Regional Court scheduled nine hearings for 2013, of which seven were adjourned due to justified absences of the defendants.
20.  The criminal proceedings against the applicant are still pending before the first-instance court.
21.  On 27 April 2011 the applicant lodged a complaint with the Łódź Court of Appeal under the Law of 17 June 2004 on complaints about a breach of the right to a trial within a reasonable time (ustawa o skardze na naruszenie prawa strony do rozpoznania sprawy w postępowaniu przygotowawczym prowadzonym lub nadzorowanym przez prokuratora i postępowaniu sądowym bez nieuzasadnionej zwłoki – “the 2004 Act”). He sought a finding that the length of the criminal proceedings against him had been excessive and PLN 20,000 in compensation.
22.  On 27 July 2011 the Łódź Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s complaint. The court found that, considering the complexity of the case and the number of co-accused who had actively tried to obstruct the proceedings, the Łódź Regional Court had conducted the proceedings in a correct and timely manner. Consequently, the appellate court refused to award the applicant compensation.